Yo, Sven! Did I yust invent der skiboggen?

I needed something to haul wood into the house.
The plastic sleds were breaking too easy.
Used skis are cheap sooo...
skiboggen by vwfatmobile, on Flickr
Ain't she pretty?
Fits right through the front door and up to the woodburner.
My buddy Buck named it.

Uff da!!!

Craig: Nice skiboggen!! Are those snow skis or water skis? I'm afraid I'm clueless and can't tell them apart.
Just flipped though your flikr pictures, are those all your work? The cob (mud) stove is lovely! If you did that one, post it here on permies in the rocket oven forum, that's nice work!
And I'm amused that you fight with Rabbits.  I do Bugs :)
Excellent first post, welcome to permies, always good to meet more creative minds!

Those look like really old downhill skis to me.  In the last 20 years they've become curvier.

That's an excellent reuse of materials. I'm going to have to remember that one.

I think I would perhaps experiment with fewer runners and a superstructure atop it, but I wouldn't complicate the design; that's part of the appeal, I think.

More surface area will keep it from bogging down under a heavy load, though, come to think of it. I suppose if you have friction issues, you can always wax the bottom.

-CK

My issue with sleds is that they tip over in deeper snow.  One side or the other tends to fall down into my footprints unless I pack the trail really wide first which is a pain.  If I make one it will be noticeably wider than my normal winter paths so it can straddle them.

Damnit. I can't un-see this. I'll have to consider picking up the free skis at the transfer station now!!!
Of course, I'm now well invested in snow removal with a new tractor snowblower....

I like the ribs holding it together, and see opportunity to capture bins or crates in between to keep a load organized.

I just figured out your signature (Nails are sold by the pound, that makes sense.)...
6 penny nails, 10 penny nails, 16 penny nails... centsible

Can't unsee it, that's funny.
It's just so colorful.
I showed it to the neighbor kids they didn't know what to say, just stood there.
They had never seen skis before.
The next day I got their opinion; it's so cool, you're so weird.
Which is exactly what I was going for ha.

Those are old downhill skis.
I just measured it.
53 inches long.
18 inches at the front
and 15.5 inches across the back.
I did cut some off the back of the skis,.. about a foot on some.
Hey Kenneth where do you get free skis?
What's a transfer station?
Best I can do is a buck a set in the spring when second hand stores are dumping them.
They are about $5 a set now.

 I don't know if it's because it's so wide at the front and narrow at the rear
but it doesn't seem to tip to the side as easy as my plastic sleds did.
They were quite narrow at the front.
I know what you mean by that.
My plastic sleds would tip to the side more easily in my footprints.
They'd dump the load.
Maybe the 45 degree skis on the side help with that too.
Each ski has 2 screws per rib, counter sunk in.

I did wax the skis,.. with car wax. That helped it slide and helped keep the snow from sticking to it a little.

I'll get some mud/lorena stove pictures posted some time.
I did post them on vwdieselparts.com in the project fora for anyone that doesn't want to wait.
There are a few other projects I'd like to post here too.

I haven't seen one before and was wondering if anyone else had.
Is it possible I invented der skiboggen?
So simple. It seems like someone would have thought of this before.

It's pretty heavy.
I haven't taken it down a hill yet.
Might put some of that blue roll-up camper mat foam on it before I hit the sledding hill.

Craig, the "transfer station" in our town is often referred to as "the dump" by many, however it is not truly a dump (final resting site for refuse).
It is a site for aggregating/sorting refuse and recyclables before hauling them away, and for composting yard waste. We don't have curbside pickup of refuse/recyclables in our town, residents have to either bring their things to the transfer station or make their own arrangements for a waste service.
Outside of the winter months, there is also "swap shop" at the T.S. where good, usable items may be left for others to take for free. Old skis show up here often, usually just before the winter, and first thing in the spring.

Damn, that's handy,.. a place where the garbage can be brought to and sorted through.

I forgot to mention that in the construction process I took a cut off wheel to the sides near the tips.
Someone mentioned earlier that the new ones were curvy.
 This had a bit of an hour glass shape that would not let them be set closely side-by-side.
 To get the center ones to fit tighter I trimmed some from the sides of the front area near the curve.

These were downhill skis.
Cross country skis have straight sides that allow them to sit tightly together but are more narrow,.. and generally much longer.
I cut the length down to make turns easier
But water skis and even snowboards could probably be used and still technically be called a skiboggen.

So no one has seen this done before?
Because I'm about to declare myself the inventor of der skiboggen.
Get my place in the history books.
Maybe be an answer on Jeopardy someday.

Craig Howard
inventor of der skiboggen, eww!
Lots of letters,..
I'll need a bigger headstone.

Don't worry, I'm not going to patent it and sell out to BIG SLED.
This is my gift to humanity. hehe.

Everybody got your skiboggens ready for winter? ha.
I just started another post and it linked back to this one,
my first post on here.
 Der Skiboggen is still working great.
I keep it in the basement in the summer so the sun doesn't mess with it.

Curious if anyone else has built one yet.

Brilliant re-use there.  We don't have a need for these in the snow, but I know someone who has built salatin style chicken pens on these.  Two skis on each side - MUCH easier to move around than the wheels!

Someone sent me some pie.
Mentioned that they saw one in Alaska 40 years ago.
 So they are Alaska tested.

I was surprised when no one had seen or made one of these before.
Seems like such a common sense project.
Great firewood hauler, but I hope
Maybe this winter I'll take time to ride it down the hill.

I might get some cross country skis for the next one.
And just leave them long.

What a really neat project.

Has it held up over the years?

Well, this seems to be a perfect use for old skis with core shots, minor delamination, trashed edges, torn out binding mounts and whatnot.  This is the season for used skis from thrift stores (and, truth be told, I have a few pairs myself, since I have a tough time throwing away things that may still have some useful life in them - give away, sure, but throw away? no can do...).  I'll see if I have enough in my quiver to do my own version of this sled.  I've been using a Pelican ice fishing tub, but that is limited.  I've thought about adding a second one, making drop-in bunks (with kingpin swivels) and light chain or rope cross reaches, so that I could have a lightweight (and stackable, for storage) two-bob sleigh which would float a bit better than the traditional version in softer snow; but, I haven't made the leap, yet, and there are probably higher priorities for my time and money, at this moment.  The upcycled skis may be just the ticket.

Another thread which is "full of win" on the subject of homemade freight sleighs is this one, on the DooTalk forum:
https://www.dootalk.com/threads/boggan-building.611265/

Users Quebcnewf (starting about post #78) and Red Rooster (the OP) have some great insights on functional freight sleds in northern temperate or sub-arctic conditions.

Thanks for the link.
I really think it works so well going over big drifts by making the front a little wider than the rest.

If you want to make one that long you chould try cross country skis.
They are longer and are straight.
Maybe with downhill skis for the front angled ones.
If you build one post a picture here.

craig howard wrote:Each ski has 2 screws per rib, counter sunk in.

Just regular flathead woodscrews?

Did you ever try the cross country version out?

No they had a tapered head and I used a countersink bit to keep them below the surface.
It is screwing into some end grain on the sides and that isn't holding as well on all of them but it just keeps going.

I haven't tried building one with the longer, skinnier and straighter cross-country skis yet.
And I haven't taken it down the sledding hill yet, maybe this winter.

Kevin Olson wrote:Another thread which is "full of win" on the subject of homemade freight sleighs is this one, on the DooTalk forum:
https://www.dootalk.com/threads/boggan-building.611265/

Users Quebcnewf (starting about post #78) and Red Rooster (the OP) have some great insights on functional freight sleds in northern temperate or sub-arctic conditions.

I just became aware recently of a version of the Harrington Harbour style freight sleighs which is commercially available for those in Canada.  Unfortunately, as of yet, no dealers in the US.  I have no idea what the prices are (if you have to ask...).

https://www.karyon.ca/karyon-xtreme-toboggan/

I've attached their PDF brochure.

Chuck Porter profiled these in a video on his YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SV8l-GGT2o
He seems to be quite the fan.

Though these sleds use a sheet of polyethylene (possibly HDPE, but more likely UHMW for reduced brittle failure in cold temperatures, though they don't specify) for the main structure, not skis, the various reconfigurable load attachments may still be helpful when considering how best to set up your own multi-use freight sled.  The tandem KAR1223 variant with swiveling log bunks, as shown on the second page of the brochure would, I suspect, allow for rigging the second unit as a "jeep", as is done for long log trailers in the PNW.  It might even be possible to rig a stinger or, failing that, a cross reach steering system so that the second unit more closely follows the track of the first, rather than "cutting the corner".  This could facilitate hauling long logs and timbers for your cabin, pole structure or timber framed barn project.

I did just score a shelf worn Shappel Jet ice fishing sled for $15 from the local hardware store.  It had gotten a bit scuffed up in their basement, and the original label had fallen off, so they had aggressively marked it down to get it out the door.  I would have peeled the label off anyway, and I figured I could scuff it up better than that(!) - likely on the first outing - so it came home with me.  I had to give them $12 for a length of 3/8" rope to pull it.  It's smaller than the Pelican brand sled I already had (probably could really only fit one small square bale of hay), but for the price...  The drop-in bunks plan with cross reaches, to which I alluded up thread, may now be even closer to fruition.  One advantage of these thermoformed tub-style of ice fishing sleds is that they are basically miniature jon boats, and will float in overflow or open water, if there isn't too much weight in them and you haven't punched a bunch of unsealed holes through them to mount stuff.

I still haven't officially decided on repurposing any of the several pairs of ragged skis in my quiver to implement the OP's version, however...

I did get a chance to ride der skiboggen down a hill this winter.
I'll work toward posting a video.
It's a fast one.